1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a media dispenser, and more particularly, to a media discharging unit for a media dispenser to take out a customer's desired number of media from a media box and to feed them to the customer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 shows the construction of a related art media dispenser. According to the figure, various components for feeding media are provided between two guide plates 200 with a predetermined spacing. The front surface of the media dispenser corresponding to an end of the guide plates 200 is provided with a door 202 for selectively opening or closing a predetermined space formed between the guide plates 200. The door 202 is installed at a side of the guide plates 200 so as to be opened or closed about a hinge. Reference numeral 204 designates a locking member for maintaining the door 202 closed.
A reject box 206 for collecting abnormal media is mounted in the space between the guide plates 200 and is selectively opened and closed by the door 202. A media box 208 is mounted below a position, where the reject box 206 is mounted, in the space selectively opened and closed by the door 202. The media to be supplied from the media dispenser is put in the media box 208. The reject box 206 and the media box 208 are detachable with the door 202 opened.
The guide plates 200 are provided with various components for feeding the media. First, a driving motor 210 providing a driving force for feeding the media is installed at a side of the guide plates 200. In order to separate the media in the media box 208 and dispense them one-by-one, a pickup roller 212 is installed at a position corresponding to the front end of the media box 208.
A feeding path 214 for feeding the media is formed between the guide plates 200 as indicated with an arrow. The feeding path 214 is composed of a plurality of rollers 216 and belts 218. A diverter 220 for rejecting the abnormal media to the reject box 206 is provided on the feeding path 214. In addition, a discharge part 230 is provided in the upper end of the front surface of the media dispenser, i.e., the end portion of the feeding path 214. Such a media dispenser is installed in a cabinet forming the appearance thereof for use.
However, such a related art has some drawbacks. First, in the related art, the components forming the media feeding path 214, the reject box 206, the media box 208 and the like are provided between the guide plates 200. Therefore, if the media are jammed on the feeding path 214, it is very difficult to remove them. In particular, if the components forming the feeding path 214, especially those components between the guide plates 200, are damaged, it is very difficult to repair them.
Furthermore, since the constructions of the related art is so designed that the discharge part 230 is provided in a side of the guide plates 200, it is a drawback that the entire construction provided in the guide plates 200 would have to be redesigned in order to change the direction of the discharge part.
In addition, when several sheets of the media are provided to a customer in the related art, the media sheets freely fall at a position where the customer takes them out and are stacked up. Thus, sheets of the media are not closely stacked and become large in volume, so that it is very inconvenient for the customer taking them by hand.
Furthermore, when the customer does not take the media, a reject box for retrieving the media should be adjacent to the position where the customer takes out the media. Thus, that is also a drawback since there is no way to retrieve the media, once provided to the customer, into the media dispenser if the customer fails to take the dispensed media.